This invention relates to safety attachment systems, and parts and fittings therefor.
A safety attachment system comprising a securely fastened life line allows personnel to move along the general path of the life line while being attached thereto by means of a harness having a lanyard provided at its free end with a fastener engagable with the life line for sliding movement therealong. If the fastener is in the form of a clip, it is necessary to detach the clip with the life line at each immediate fixed location point along the length of the life line and then re-engage the clip with the life line on the other side of the location point. British Patents Nos. 1,582,201 and 2,096,958, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,265,179 and 4,462,316, describe traversing devices can be located as a sliding fastener at the end of a safety harness lanyard for engagement with a life line enabling passage past the intermediate location points of the life line without detachment of the fastener from the life line.
When the life line is positioned at an elevated location high above a person secured with respect thereto, certain problems can occur in safety attachment systems utilizing the aforesaid traversing devices and the relatively long lanyards necessary for such applications. A first problem is that because a relatively long lanyard is used, the traversing device engaged with the overhead life line tends to lag behind the movements of the attached person so that on falling, the person can swing dangerously back and forth, like a pendulum, over a relatively long arc length. Another problem which can occur is that the extended length of the lanyard reduces the angle of swing of the pivotal load connector element of the traversing device, so that the tension in the lanyard produces a more generally downward force on the transfastener which can result in a jamming effect when the transfastener engages an intermediate support hanger of the life line.